Man, 66, used knife to fend off 3 attacking dogs

A 66-year-old White Center man used a pocketknife to fend off three mixed-breed dogs that attacked him early Wednesday. Animal services says the man was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and one dog was euthanized.

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A 66-year-old White Center man used a pocketknife to fend off three dogs that attacked him Wednesday morning, according to animal-control officials.

The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was being treated at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, according to Regional Animal Services of King County spokesman Cameron Satterfield.

One dog was injured and had to be euthanized, he said.

Satterfield said the victim had been dropped off near his home near 18th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 104th Street when he heard a commotion behind him, turned around and was attacked by three dogs.

The victim was fighting off the dogs when the person who had given him a ride saw what was happening and attempted, unsuccessfully, to use his car to interrupt the attack, Satterfield said.

The victim then pulled out a pocketknife, and he and his friend fought off the dogs, Satterfield said.

One of the dogs, an adult female believed to have been a pit-bull mix named Kasha, was wounded by the men and later put down after animal-control officers captured the three animals, Satterfield said.

Dr. Gene Mueller, director of animal services, said the two other dogs are a 7-year-old male bullmastiff named Savage and a 4-year-old female “pit-bull type” named Envy.

Mueller said the dogs were large and muscular and had not been spayed or neutered.

“We are not dealing with a breed issue, though, we are dealing with a human-responsibility issue,” Mueller said.

According to Satterfield, the King County Sheriff’s Office said it appears that no criminal charges will be filed in connection with the attack. However, he said, animal-control officers are investigating to determine the dogs’ owners and the circumstances of the attack.

Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the owner or owners could be cited for infractions, including failure to leash or confine the animals.

He said animal services had not previously been contacted about the three dogs involved in Wednesday’s attack.

He did say, though, that after the attack, several people reported having seen the dogs running loose in the neighborhood.